Thursday, June 29, 2017

Hi there friends and newcomers! Welcome to June's Aurifil Designer of the Month reboot for June! It's hard to believe that it was 5 years ago that we started the DOM project and I was excited to be a part of the fun. Everyone's block was so clever, and mine felt a little less than that when I saw them all together. Someone in the flickr group left a gentle criticism that it was not their favorite block. So when it came time for the reboot I thought about what I could do to make it better without changing it. I looked at a lot of vintage stitch designs and I decided that since my favorite stitch was the lazy daisy, I would change all the stitches for the flowers to lazy daisies with French knot centers.

I am still not a great embroiderer but it was a lot more fun. I chose some fresh new colors that were more 'me' and I think the block is a lot cuter than it was before.

Five years ago Pam Kitty Love debuted at Quilt Market, so I pulled out some of the PKL blacks and whites to use for sashing. Very fun for me! You can read the original Auribuzz post about my block here! I love seeing a picture of my cleaned up sewing room. You can read my post about it here. Hop over to the current Auribuzz reboot post here! I loved using the Aurifloss, and since finally someone showed me the secret to separating the threads my life is now complete!

The colors I used are:

2888

2250

2530

1135

1148

2024

5006

2425

Thanks for stopping by! Now skedaddle over to Auribuzz and get your chart and see all the posts about the DOM reboot!

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

The other day I was thinking about how cute Roseann's book is and wanted to make the cute little mat but didn't have any wool. I pulled out some fusible and some fabric and got busy making it using a square of fabric as a base. I blanket stitched all the pieces using coordinating thread, and then layered it up and quilted it, I did a 3/4 inch grid on the black gingham and then just stitched in the ditch around the circle.

I popped some binding on it and once I stitched it down I was ready for coffee.

Its' cute I think! It would also make a cute potholder if you put some Insul Bright inside. OR wouldn't' it make a cute quilt block? Well I won't get ahead of myself.

Thursday, June 22, 2017

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I was in a sewing slump. Lots of ideas, just can't get around to doing it. Combine that with the decidedly dungeon like quality of light in my sewing room and you have my own recipe for the doldrums.

I am not immune to all the cute and inspiring projects out there, and I feel buoyed by looking at them. Sometimes all you need is to start, so I did. I have seen so many cute little fabric boxes made using Ayda's book Made for Baby. Try over here at Krystine's blog and then here at Lauren's Blog. Well you should go there anyway to be honest, the photos are wonderful.

Not as wonderfully photographed is my little box. I am way too excited about it. It was so easy, and it went together so fast. I was happy for the opportunity to use the cute bias tape with crocheted edge that Roseann sent me as a surprise. Honestly I want to make a thousand and litter every surface with them. (hahahahaha like I have surfaces with room for them I crack myself up)

I guess while I'm in the mood I should go try and accomplish something. There's some binding half sewn on that I moved aside to sew this up.. that seems easy, right?

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

HI there! What's new with you? Those of you that follow me on Instagram know what's new with me... my beloved Reliable iron started smoking up a storm on Monday and now is a goner. I'm pretty sure the steam generator burned up for some reason, it was only on a few minutes, I was making some binding for a small quilt, and I was just giving it the finishing press in half when it started. So much smoke! Later I plugged it in and it didn't steam and I didn't hear the generator working. It did get hot but yikes, now it's too risky to use I think.

I feel like it was the best iron I've used, the heat, the steam... the soleplate.. everything. I babied it, never using tap water, always turning it off and unplugging. Even after months went by. I haven't sewn as much as normal the past 9 months to be honest. I'm torn about sending it back, do I want to invest (and it's a shipment to Canada so we're talking $40 - $50) in an iron that only lived 9 months? That makes it a pretty expensive iron no matter how great it is. It does have a nice warranty, you can see it here.

Regardless of what I decide, I needed a new iron. I feel conflicted about investing in another premium iron and realize that I am lucky I have the means to do so. Elizabeth had just replaced her iron, so she told me what she purchased and I went out and picked one up today.

$40 and I'm back in business. I haven't unboxed it yet, we're on a Flex Alert due to the heat, and aren't supposed to use unnecessary appliances till after 9pm. It's a California thing, like Spare the Air days! I'll keep you posted.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Morning friends! How are you? We're heading into the weekend and around here it's going to be a scorcher! I've got my fans out and my window monitoring schedule is in place so I'm ready. I'm not going to complain YET, but I make no promises about the future!

Yesterday I was feeling really cheerful while doing some blanket stitching! This is a peek at a small part of my submission for volume 16 of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine. I really like this block and I'm crossing my fingers it is accepted. I've been feeling very inspired to sew lately and I'm always happy when I'm blanket stitching! It's probably my favorite thing.

Thursday, June 08, 2017

Hi there friends! What's new with you? I've been doing a little of this and that, some sewing, some stitching with friends, some little bits of yardwork, the usual stuff for this time of year.

I was very lucky to receive an e-copy of Lissa's new book from Martingale Lucky Charm Quilts. The photos by Brent Kane are courtesy of Martingale, you can see more quilts from the book on their website.

Like all books from Martingale they have clear and concise instructions with great illustrations, perfect for those who read every word and those who like to follow the photos! I love the cheerful colors of the quilts, but if you like a country look there are projects for you too. The book features lots of Moda designers we know and love, Bonnie Olaveson who made Flying Geese.

This is Spring Mosaic by Sandy Gervais. I love this cute small quilt on a chenille bedspread!

I love this one by Laurie Simpson, Tea Time. This is the quilt I wanted to make right away when I flipped through the book. Of course there are many other friends included featured, these were just three quilts that popped out when I looked. Next time I'd pick three different, the projects are all so cute.

I wasn't kidding, I did get busy and I started cutting and sewing right away. I didn't have charms so I just pulled out my scrap bin and chose all the white background things available. While I didn't have the variety I would have with a charm pack of fabrics, it still is cute. I liked that the red was a single fabric aside from 3 charm squares, easy cutting!

I think it does capture the same look even though I didn't have some cool linen to include, instead choosing a blue and red plaid.

I would have had this quilted but shocker, I had no more small pieces of batting laying around, which means thank goodness I've used it all up! I'll head out for more this weekend. This will be so easy to machine quilt, but if I was a hand quilter it would go fast as well, it's pretty small and the small squares will lend themselves to a diagonal grid with out marking.

The book is full of projects for those charm packs but you can easily use yardage or fat quarters... it's all fabric! I really think you might enjoy it! If you pick it up let me know which quilt is your favorite!

Thursday, June 01, 2017

Morning friends, how are you? Been busy? I recently picked up one of the new Olfa Endurance refill blades for my cutter, and man does it make a difference! I had seen it in the quilt market photographs and was excited to give it a try. I thought I'd post about it so I can remember when I put it in and I can decide if it really does last a long time. I'm notorious for not changing my blade, what about you? I was curious about the cost and it turns out to be around a dollar more, so not a huge investment in a test run.

I put it to good use on cutting some strips of fabric for a small project. More on that later. It's a pattern that calls for a charm pack so just went thru my scrap bin and pulled a bunch of fabric that way. Do you do this? Or do you use a lot of precuts? Just curious.

Did you see this cute quilt in the June American Patchwork and Quilting magazine? It's by Emily Herrick. Super cute. I was so motivated after seeing Sharon's cute baskets on Instagram, I ran right out to get the magazine. The blocks are large and my attention span is small, so I reduced the size 50% and I think it's adorable. That doesn't stop me from loving the big baskets and Sharon's are so wonderful, be sure and check out her Instagram feed to see them all. (You'll need to scroll a bit.)